


The Beacon

by miss_aligned



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Mass Effect 1, One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-10
Updated: 2016-05-10
Packaged: 2018-06-07 16:06:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 924
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6812578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_aligned/pseuds/miss_aligned
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Relatively little is known about prothean technology, and even less is known about the impact of its effects on the human mind. Initiating contact once might have killed someone. Doing so again is unthinkable.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Beacon

“Lieutenant, don’t you think you’ve been sitting here quite long enough? It’s been twelve hours and you’ve hardly moved.” The words of Karin Chakwas were tinged with concern and humor in equal parts, though Kaidan had barely heard them. He only turned his attention away from the sleeping form in front of him when she handed him a steaming cup.

“You’re giving me coffee? So I’ll rest?” Despite his words, he accepted it graciously, barely realizing how tired he really was.

“I’m not nearly delusional enough to assume that you are going to take my advice. I thought you’d prefer the pick-me-up.” She checked the monitors as she moved around him, her expression unreadable.

Kaidan sipped the dark liquid in silence, dutifully keeping watch over the woman who had pulled him away from danger and taken the blow for herself. It was the least he could do, and he wanted to be sure that she would pull through. If moral support was all he could offer, then he would do so wholeheartedly.

Eventually, a question that had been eating away at him rose to his lips. He’d been mulling over it since the moment they’d stepped foot back on the Normandy, apparently hours upon hours beforehand. “Do you know what would have happened to me if I’d been in contact with that beacon when it blew apart instead of her?”

Dr. Chakwas glanced up from the monitor she’d been adjusting with subtle surprise. Her expression softened considerably as she registered the question.

“While I can’t say that I truly understand what the beacon has done to our dear commander here, I believe that it likely would have killed you if she hadn’t done something to pull you away. It appears the assault was almost entirely upon the brain and I fear that your amp would have sustained irreparable and lethal damage if you’d been subjected to the same conditions.”

He slowly nodded, disappointed but not exactly surprised by her response. He’d suspected as much, which made him feel even more guilty for putting himself and Shepard in this situation to start.

“Chin up, Lieutenant,” the doctor added. “As far as I can tell, she should fully recover. There were minimal physical injuries and her brain activity is returning to normal levels. You can thank or chastise her soon enough.”

A rueful smile crept across his lips, but he couldn’t think of anything to say in response. He wasn’t really sure if or how he wanted to thank the commander, but he knew he wasn’t about to berate her for making a choice without knowing what the consequences would entail. He wanted to ask her questions. He wanted to hug her. He wanted to…

“Do me a favor, would you?” Chakwas said, interrupting his train of thought. “If you come across another of those maniacal devices, stay away from it. Keep Shepard away from it, too, if you wouldn’t mind. I don’t know if she could handle a second offensive like this.”

—–

“Commander, don’t!” The doctor’s words were echoing in Kaidan’s mind as he watched Shepard take one step too many. He couldn’t believe she was making another approach on a prothean beacon, knowing it very well could have killed her last time. He reached out for her, but Liara’s hand wrapped around his arm and halted his forward movement.

She rose up into the air as if pulled taut on invisible strings. Horror swept across his visage as he watched, helplessly, while she endured another barrage of images and information ill-suited for the human mind. He wondered for a long moment if they were going to have to remove a corpse from this dark corner of the facility. Given what Chakwas had said after the utter failure that was Eden Prime, he was never going to forgive himself if she died this way.

Emotions warred within him to the point that he forgot himself. Fear for her wellbeing and survival swirled with anger over her brash determination, then overwhelming anguish stemming from his still-undefined feelings for her stifled the air in his lungs. Kaidan braced himself for the blast that he was sure was coming, positioning himself to catch the suspended commander when the beacon inevitably and violently released its hold of her.

This time, however, she wasn’t thrown aside. She wasn’t unconscious. Her eyes fluttered open, and though she appeared a bit rattled from the onslaught of information, she was fit and strong and aware. Kaidan stepped in to get a closer look, carefully evaluating her body language and staring deeply into her eyes to assure himself that she was alright.

He pulled her into a tight embrace without thinking twice, clearly conveying his relief that she hadn’t been hurt a second time. She stiffened in his arms initially, but it was only a moment before he felt her arms curl around him in response. She whispered, her breath ghosting past his ear. “I’m okay.”

It was only as he opened his eyes and caught sight of a certain smirking asari behind Shepard that he realized just what he was doing. He could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he abruptly recoiled from the commander, who seemed as surprised by the withdrawal as she was the initial embrace. He held her by the shoulders at arm’s length, then gently shook her encouragingly, as though he was merely proud of a fellow soldier for dodging a bullet.

“Good, good,” he stammered, trying to ignore Liara’s stifled giggling. “Please don’t do that again.”


End file.
